Alls' fair in
love and war. With that in mind, we present our guarded secrets. But not
all of our secrets! We'll add a few each week until our brains are drained.

JOIN US~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got any suggestions about how to "whup" your opponent?
E-mail us at [email protected] and
we'll have a look.

SCURVY TRICKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're playing the SOUTH,
you've got your work cut out for you. When playing the NORTH,
don't get too cocky. There are a few maxims for BOTH
SIDES as well. Some of the best tips are in the PLAYER'S
HINTS section.

SOUTH.

FINISHING
STRONG~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want play a slow and steady strategy (my favorite), draw as many
cards as possible. Defend important cities, but attack rarely. Counterattack
only if the odds are good. Hoard appropriate enigma cards (e.g., Rebel
Yell). Then, press hard, last minute counterattacks, beginning shortly
before the 1864 Elections. This will disrupt the Union’s plans and may
force him into careless risks, and turn the entire war around. But if you
have played an aggressive South the whole game, you will probably lack
the punch to pursue this strategy.

.

QUICK VICTORY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The best way to win early is to invade the Eastern Theater. You’ll need
a 2-initiative commander in the East. Take Harper’s Ferry. If you lose,
simply call off the attack and regroup. If you win, press on to Harrisburg,
bypassing Baltimore. You can do this one city per turn (slower, but surer)
or you can shoot for it all at once, relying on the element of surprise.
Success gets you three objectives: two cities plus severing his railnet.
This alone can be enough for a CSA Diplomatic Victory.

SUPPLY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hang tough. The yanks get more strength per card than you. But they will
be drawing only two cards per turn for most of the game (taking the remainder
in supply points), and you will be drawing three (or even four). Remember,
you don’t have to conquer him, you only need to survive in one (tattered)
piece long enough for the North to get sick of the war.

MISSISSIPPI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Defend the Mississippi River vigorously, but don’t stake a large army to
defend it if it would be surrounded (as at Vicksburg). You can afford to
lose the Mississippi. But you can’t afford to lose the Mississippi plus
a large army.

NORTH.

TIME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

General Strategy: Attack only when you have a 50-50 shot on the red die
roll for the first few (four to five?) turns in the game. Draw as many
cards as possible. Then, when your army is nice and big, draw only two
cards per turn to make your deck last as long as possible and to provide
supply for your massive offensives. Remember: even “useless” cards are
a godsend to the North simply because they make his deck last longer.
(We had a joke USA Enigma card on this theme: “Siamese War-Elephants”
No effect on the game. May be replaced or discarded. [Legend has it that
the King of Siam offered Lincoln some of his finest war-elephants to champion
the fight against slavery. The president politely demurred, which seems
a shame; it would have been a sight. One wonders what Sheridan might have
done with them. Or Forrest.])

.

BLOCKADE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you suspect the rebels threaten to go on the offensive in the East and
you have two naval squadrons in play, move both to the Eastern Theater
to create a full blockade (which is a Northern Objective). That way, even
if the South takes Harrisburg, your Score should not drop to the point
where the Brits intervene and you lose the game. (However, if you are not
under such threat, post your second naval squadron to the Western Theater
to control the rivers, etc.)

PRODUCTION~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You must reduce Southern production or you will lose. Always have at least
a partial blockade. You can’t afford to have the rebs drawing five cards
a turn. Occupy the Mississippi River as soon as possible. It is usually
the quickest, easiest way to cut southern per-turn production to less than
four cards.

CROSS THEATER
ATTACKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take Lynchburg and Cumberland Gap, if the opportunity presents itself.
Success will allow cross-theater attacks in either direction. (Historically,
northern armies retook Cumberland Gap, but they never got as far as Lynchburg).

BLUE MOUNTAIN/SICKNESS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have as much supply as possible available when you play “Blue Mountain
Boys” and the “Freedom Sickness” so you can make maximum use of the opportunities
they provide.

JOHN BROWN'S
BODY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Attack until you are totally depleted. Then, pull out your “John Brown’s
Body” card and, next turn, restore everything just after the rebs commit
to counterattacking what they thought were depleted armies.

VICTORY FROM
DEFEAT~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t despair! It can get very frustrating to lose a series of battles.
But you have great resilience. And the next die has yet to be rolled. You
can get back all (most of?) your bad luck with a lucky, well-timed grab
of, say, Richmond or Atlanta.

Try to play the other guy for a sucker by the adroit use of reserves. For
example, withdraw a weak unit to fool your opponents to withdraw unit(s)
of their own--then start adding reserves. There are many variations on
this theme.

.

CAVALRY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keep a lone cavalry unit in play to guard your supplies.

PLAYER'S
HINTS FOR BOTH SIDES.

WHEELING,
WV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris Harrington (CAPT.): If Wheeling goes pro-South
and you can occupy Harper’s Ferry, your Eastern Theater forces can strike
across theater boundaries against the unfortified western cities of the
Union heartland.

If your strategy hint passes muster here at Q.E.D., we'll post it on this
page and promote you in our own private virtual army. The more hints that
make it online, the higher up in the ranks you'll go. Good luck, privates.